Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.88.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $76.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.38. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.